DB stopped by to respond to our article, “The Studebaker Hawk reached its high point in 1957 — and fell rather quickly.”
Well, I’m glad you gentleman have it all sorted out now. Whatever the reasons behind the successes and the failures, I’m proud to be an 11- generation Studebaker owner. The cars were innovative, patriotic and generous.
— DB
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So some distant ancestor bought one of their wheelbarrows? That’s still a ways from 11 generations.
Given that Studebaker began operations in 1852, this would require the aforementioned generations to beget the next generation at the average age of 17 – is the guy admitting to have come from a long string of teenage pregnancies?
Yeah, I guess they started out with a Studebaker wheelbarrow.
l’ll give him the benefit of another possibility – that he is a documented member of the Studebaker family (they came to the USA in 1736, so the number of generations is reasonable) and he is a Studebaker vehicle owner.
Maybe he just forgot to add a word that would make it all more understandable – like “l’m proud to be an 11-generation Studebaker AND owner”? Maybe?
Hard to figure how the cars were exactly “generous”, though!
But, here is another thought on the “generous” word: Way back in the early years during horse-drawn production, the company’s motto was “Always give more than you promise” (some claim it should have been “always give a LITTLE more than you promise”! ). The motto is played prominently in the company’s celebrations of their centennial in 1952 as well.
Perhaps this is what the writer meant. lt does help to wear your tinfoil hat when trying to make some sense out of this person’s post!
The Studebaker Family National Association is alive and well, and has published 3 genealogical/history books. l have a Studebaker family friend in Florida who is listed as 9th generation. So, an 11th generation is certainly a real thing for a Studebaker descendant!
All the above is my conjecture. But an educated conjecture, l hope. Just too bad the author didn’t tell his – or her – story a little better.